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An Open Letter To Mtv- Go F*** Yourself

Oh my God…..I don’t even know where to start with this. I mean, I’ll start somewhere but pissed isn’t the word I would use to describe my feelings towards this piece of shit commercial created by Mtv. I think maybe if we put the words enraged and infuriating together, I am feeling enragiating. Yes, I’m enragiating.

But Hot Mess, what are you talking about?

Oh you don’t know? Some of you haven’t seen it? Well, here you go. Please make sure you aren’t holding a baby or stroking a kitten while you watch.

If you have any problems accessing it, just go to YouTube and search for Hey White Guys and select the video put out by the Tea Partiest. Go on, I’ll wait……so here is my open letter to Mtv:

Dear Mtv,

A few days ago I heard a few people mention a controversial commercial you put out. I didn’t know the premise but was curious. You’ve always been known for pushing the envelope with such events as Madonna and Britney kissing and Madonna singing with burning crosses (classy b.t.w.) in the background. You are responsible for classics that will surely find their way into the Smithsonian including but not limited to: 16 and Pregnant, Teen Mom, Jersey Shore and The Jenny McCarthy show.

And so you put out a racist commercial montage of young people, probably all under the age of 25, insulting a large population of Americans, insulting the country and lastly, telling the worst joke I’ve ever heard, discounting our law enforcement. And for the 1 girl that literally looks like she rolled out of bed to do this commercial, stating “some of you do a good job, some of you don’t,” isn’t a big enough band-aid to cover this poor excuse of media.

If you were being honest with yourself, you would see the very foundation of the message you are delivering:

Racism is not o.k. but it is o.k. as long as it is just against white men.

The fact that you start out the video with, “hey fellow white guys….” I mean…what the fuck?

And America was never great for anyone but white guys? What is that all about? Our President and 1st lady of the United States are black for cryin’ out loud. What about Oprah? Beyonce? Marco Rubio? Maya Angelou? Ben Carson? Bobby Jindal? Wow Mtv, just wow. I do have a question for these 2 guys:

Do they feel the same way? I mean they are only the last CEO and current CEO of Mtv and unless I’m mistaken, I think they are white guys.

Your commercial was the most disgusting, patronizing media I have ever seen. And you know what? You are worse than the people you describe in the video. Like cowards, you pull the commercial, not because it was the right thing to do but because you couldn’t take the back lash. And do you apologize? Nope, you put some lame ass picture of Harry Potter on your site. At no point do you address the elephant in the room.

I feel you should immediately fire the writer, director, producer and anyone that had a hand in this heaping mound of shit. Oh, and fire the costume person that selected outfits from the new Lena Dunham collection, exclusively at Kohls.

So, as I finish this letter, I look over to my sleeping, blonde hair, blue eyed son who’s favorite song right now is White Privilege II and can recite word for word because of the social message. I think of my youngest who doesn’t see color when liking girls in his class. And you know what? Fuck you Mtv. You are no longer relevant and this reminds me of the scene of Boogie Nights when Mark Walberg is prepared to do “anything” for a dollar.

14 thoughts on “An Open Letter To Mtv- Go F*** Yourself”

Context for your outrage might be helpful. A commercial was put on TV repeating nearly verbatim many many twitter and tumblr posts. This is MTV mirroring a voice of A LOT of people. Myself included.

Historical context – In Western Civilization white men have dominated, enslaved and outright killed vast swaths of the world. Most of those suffering under that history – NOT white men. They have inherited in the 21st century a default position of privilege based on that history. There is lots of data that shows this privilege is the reality. It’s not about what any one man is suffering from. In aggregate, white men make more money, have more access and just generally step through more doors than POC and women.

Are all white men guilty of the things said in the commercial? Nope. Is it fair to Liberal&Aware Man that this commercial doesn’t specify that he’s the exception. No. But interestingly, he’s not the guy complaining.

The primary difference in White men from the rest of us is Privilege. White Men stand on a hill of privilege where being painted as all the same with a giant paintbrush doesn’t really even change the view. But Women, Black people, Asian People, Native Americans, and Muslims are drowning in the paint from 100s of years of being painted down by white men.

Finally, do you understand why the term Blue Lives is offensive? Because if you don’t I can go into it, but I think you will get it if spend some time thinking about it. About what the phrase Blue Lives grew from and why it is not so much supporting heroic and good efforts by the police but dismissing BLM.

I respectfully disagree with you. My father was the son of an Italian immigrant. They lived off the salary of a janitor. He was dirt poor but with determination, thrived and became successful. Even had the awesome (sarcasm of course) disability of epilepsy. So I will defend my father and I will defend my cousin who is a police officer.
I am talking about the here and now. As a mother of sons, I am incredibly insulted as is the majority of people reading this. I will NEVER justify racism.

I’m eye-rolling so hard at you right now, itsathough2. You are sadly so typical…repeat after me: racism is NEVER okay. NEVER. Not even against the big, bad “white guy”. I am not “white” and not a man – yet I see where they are the only people it is still OK to attack for things beyond their control. Your SJW bit is TIRED. Judging solely on what you have written here, you have a very limited view of history and the world. I hope someday you learn more than how to repeat what you are told.

So strong against racism.
Did you get his upset at all the police brutality against African Americans?
Did you get this upset at all the profiling, discrimination, violence that happens to Muslims?
Did you get this upset about laws that designed to prevent people of color from voting?
Did you get this upset about Trans people being blocked from using restrooms?
Did you get this upset about laws that protect the people who refuse to serve or hire LGBTQ folks?
Did you fight for the right of LGBTQ people to marry and serve in the armed forces?

Or did this stance against ANY racism happen when MTV played a commercial that chastised people that look like you?

or…Was that commercial talking to you personally?
Did those statement hit a chord and might have been directed AT your particular actions and comments and thoughts?

Or am I wrong? You have been out on the front lines being noisy in defense of everyone and you are just more than willing to include the poor beleaguered white man under the umbrella of your fight?

Mya, thank you for your comment! You voiced exactly what I was saying all along: racism is never ok, EVER. I’m not talking about the past or the “whys” or the “whos”, I’m talking about THIS particular form of media and how baffling it is.

Agreed, Hotmess! And I love how people act as if unless you are historically underrepresented or previous generations were oppressed in some way, nothing unfair can be happening to you today. And reality is much different from what a lot of the loud left believe — enough of their favorite word, “privilege” I would argue that the white male has many disadvantages these days (after all, where are his housing programs? Bumps in SAT scores? Priority college registrations? AA employment advantages? etc.). And before anyone — I’m looking at you, itsathough2 😉 — gets their panties in a wad, YES…I do realize that racism still exists, and that people still struggle in various ways. But we can’t bury our heads in the sand and say that everyone doesn’t fight their own battle against injustice. My struggle doesn’t define or diminish yours.

And yes — your post is about THIS video; regardless of anything else that is going on, THIS video was in horribly poor taste, and ANYONE should find it offensive and an insult to their intelligence and ability to act as a reasonable, mature and aware human being.

the privilege I mentioned is not about individual cases. Privilege is about the aggregate of how many more opportunities are given to white men than others.
And indeed, your father’s hardships are still minor compared to a black man’s in his time and circumstances. That was the privilege of his skin color. Your father’s hardships were minor compared to a woman who couldn’t get the vast majority of jobs available, including janitor in many places.

Privilege is not about having Trump’s life. It’s about having an easier life because of being a white immigrant rather than being a chinese immigrant.

You might take that feeling of outrage at the unfairness you feel about this and consider it from the point of view of black people. At how often they have been treated and continue to be treated with the sort of racism you perceive in this commercial.

Consider it and do some research on how each generation of this disparity of opportunities digs a hole deeper into poverty and despair. It has less to do with how hard people work and more to do with the paths open to them and their children.

Now that you feel the outrage at the racism, now imagine how it feels to be black, asian, muslim. So have this sort of thing in your life every day. If you can imagine that, maybe that commercial has done it’s intention. Because racism isn’t only outrageous when it’s against you and yours. And if that is what it takes to get you to feel what racism is – even as minorly as this then the commercial did it’s job.

Again, I respectfully disagree with you, given the hardships I know, that you are not privy to. I disagree with this video as it is racist against humans of 2016. Obviously there is something wrong with this video, otherwise MTV would have kept the video up, holding firm in their convictions. Good night.

Sorry. Other groups are not addressed the way the video addressed “white guys”. If that were to happen, people would be outraged. Similar to all of this “Not my president” BS…I didn’t even want Trump to run, yet I respect the fact that he won. Had anyone 8 years ago stood on the street blocking traffic, rioting and protesting Obama with signs that said “Not my president” and wished horrible things on him (not to mention these RIDICULOUS millennials who can’t seem to function because they didn’t “win” this time), they would be labeled a racist and probably charged with a hate crime. There is a serious double standard, and it is disturbing.

When Obama was elected in 08 there were
Violent attacks against persons of color and their property, including beating one campaign worker and calling “Fuck Obama!” and “Nigger president!”

Effigies of Obama were hung from trees or burned in several states.

A black church was burned down the night after he was elected.

Cars were burned, property was spray painted with various racist and hateful things.

And I’m just skimming the surface there. It was NOT pleasant.

There has been some disruption and quite a lot of peaceful demonstration against Trump. But frankly, I’m not seeing quite the same level of primitive hate as happened in 2008. And Trump is a man who was not elected by popular vote and who has demonstrated repeatedly that he is a racist and a sexist. He incites most of the hate against himself. He’s a bully and he enjoys taunting. And that doesn’t even bring up the fascism or Russian puppetry fears.

Those who incited the violence to protest against Obama were protesting one thing – he is black.

It is the value of this country that we can speak and speak loudly against the things we do not agree with. Most of the country doesn’t agree with Trump as President. They have EVERY DAMN RIGHT to say so.

Sara, thank you for your post. From one white woman to another, we will never know the years and years of hardship others have endured. My post is about a racist tv commercial and the offense I took from it-nothing more, nothing less. It’s not about the election, past racism or even the racism that still exists today. If you want to compare the topic of the Mtv commercial and how it relates to the slave trade of the 1700’s, please use your blog to do so. No further communication is needed nor desired. Thank you.

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